The present invention is directed toward a universally adjustable conveyor safety guard for preventing materials from falling from a conveyor and catching materials which fall. More particularly, this invention relates to a conveyor safety guard which can be adapted to fit conveyor systems having a wide range of configurations.
Conveyors are used to handle and transport products in a variety of industries. Overhead conveyors move materials while allowing other labor activities to take place on the floor space below. Multi-tiered conveyors and parallel conveyors can be arranged to occupy minimal floor space. Many conveyors are floor mounted, or are hung from ceiling members. Conveyors vary in width depending on usage and the type of product being conveyed.
Various problems can arise with the movement of materials on a conveyor. The product being conveyed can break or the packaging can separate and allow individual small parts of the product to clog the conveyor system. Parts of the conveyor itself can break off or jumpout of place, particularly "pop out" rollers, which often jettison out of place during conveyor jams. Sometimes an entire carton will strike one of the conveyor supports and fall from the conveyor. Furthermore, a box or carton can get jammed on a conveyor (with the conveyor still running), causing the product to build up. Eventually, material can stack on top of the jammed product, thereby causing the moving product to fall off the sides of the conveyor. This can pose a serious danger to personnel, particularly when a conveyor is overhead. Furthermore, the fallen product often is damaged and therefore cannot be used.
Typically manufacturers provide nominal "guard rails" for conveyors. However, these rails serve little purpose in preventing the events mentioned above. They serve as guides to keep the product somewhat centered on the conveyor, but do nothing to prevent conveyor parts or broken products from falling from the conveyor. They generally do not prevent and in fact sometimes cause, the stacking effect which occurs when moving material piles up behind stalled product.
Conventionally, conveyor guards which employ safety nets positioned along the sides and below the conveyor have been custom installed for the size, shape and safety requirements of a particular conveyor system. A conveyor guard is usually either mounted on a custom fabricated support system, or is mounted on existing hangers or floor supports which may have not been specifically designed to support a conveyor guard. While these configurations may be suitable for certain applications, they customarily offer little, if any, offset for clearance between the conveyor and guard where product can be free of the conveyor and caught in the guard system.
Construction of custom-designed conveyors guards can be costly, especially when a conveyor system includes conveyors of varying size and shape. Furthermore, when the conveyor system is subsequently modified or the type of product conveyed is changed, it may be necessary to redesign or replace portions of the guard, resulting in additional expense.